


Baby

by bar2d2s



Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Pet Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:09:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3929389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine Person A of your OTP calling Person B ‘baby’ for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby

After their stint on the prison planet, the older Rogues seemed…harsher. Tougher. More jaded. They stayed up late, drinking and cleaning their weapons. They joked less, told fewer stories. Axel tried to lighten the atmosphere, and it nearly got him fried to a crisp. So he grew up. Put a shell around himself, to keep the feelings in and the people out. It felt horrible, unnatural, and it was Owen who eventually convinced him to knock it off.

“You’re supposed to be lighter than air, kid. Can’t be light with all the heavy shit weighing you down, right?” Axel sighed heavily into the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. When’re you coming back to town? I’m not telling you you’re right about anything until you’re standing in front of me.”

For the most part, he handled himself pretty well. Got himself a Fallstr to post about things that bothered him, spent a lot of time on the phone with Owen, practiced been un-annoying without losing his personality, which was about 70% annoying.

The nightmares were the one thing he couldn’t handle on his own.

He woke up tangled in his sheets, thrashing. He could still feel the blood on his face, hear the screams. Smell the burning flesh and the icy discharge that froze his nostrils open whenever he got a whiff. Death was all over him. He fumbled for his phone, pressing redial. It rang once, twice.

“Axel? It’s three am, dude.” He let out a loud sigh, of relief. “Ax, you gotta talk to me, man. Otherwise I’m gonna assume this is a dirty phone call, and I’m gonna take my shorts off.” Axel laughed, just glad to hear his voice. The terror was already shrinking.

“I had the dream again. It was…they were all dead, this time. Killed each other, and left me alone.” It wasn’t all the death and destruction that made him wake screaming, but the feeling at the end, of utter loneliness. Owen let out a little whistle.

“I think you may have to start taking sleep meds, Ax. Or see a shrink. These dreams…they’re as far from normal, even for us, as you can get. Especially when you talk about them like you think they’re predicting things.”

Axel wished Owen was in the room with him. That way, he could punch him for being right, then bury his face in Owen’s chest while the taller man stroked his hair until he fell asleep again. He just wanted to feel safe. “I miss you, O. I’d feel better if you were here to help me through this.” The sigh came from Owen’s end, this time.

“I miss you too, baby. More than I’ve let on. It’s why I’ll take your call at three in the fuckin’ morning while I’m half-asleep.” The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and Axel felt his breathing get quicker. “Ax?”

“Say that again.” It was a demand but then again, he’d always been pushy. He could practically hear the grin.

“Say what? I miss you? No, I know. You like it, don’t you? When I call you baby?” He’d never done it before, but there was something in the way he said it. Some little quirk in the inflection when Owen called him this fun new nickname that left Axel panting. “Figured I’d try some pet names on for size. We may not be Facespace official, but that doesn’t mean I have to get out of practice with being sweet on you.” Axel yawned, the memory of his nightmare in the distant past now.

“I think I’m gonna get back to sleep now. Just, can I leave the phone on for a while? So I know you’re there?” Owen chuckled, and the sound sent tingles of warmth down his spine.

“Anything you want, Ax. G'night, baby.”

Axel wrapped his arms around his pillow, cheek smooshed onto his phone. “Night, Boomer. Talk to you in the morning.”

In Gotham, Owen slouched back into a laying position, setting his own phone on the pillow next to his mouth. When he finally heard Axel’s breathing even out, he pushed the end button, kissing the screen.

“Sleep tight, babe.”


End file.
